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 Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2025 9:14 pm
Quote: It was already late in the evening but the merchant seemed unfazed by the passing of time. He sat, poised and elegant, watching the world around him. He didn't seem bored, even as he leaned forward and laced his fingers atop the table; below it, he kept his toe tapping to some silent tune in his head. He was tall, by human standards, though while sitting down he didn't seem particularly threatening. If you didn't look at his face. He had graceful features--sharp and refined. His chin and nose tapered to a point, giving him an air of sophistication, but that, combined with his slitted eyes and pointed teeth, there was something undeniably predatory about him. He watched with a hungry gaze and a mischievous, nearly sinister smile. His ears were pointed and were prominent despite being tucked behind his vibrant, multi-colored hair. The most intrusive feature that indicated there was something not human about him were the curling horns protruding from his temples and the oil-slick black scales that brushed his cheeks and forehead. He was well dressed, in a fashion obviously otherworldly, and seemed to enjoy dressing himself up in glistening gemstones. His table was somehow both simple and overwhelming; it was draped in a dark purple tablecloth, with extravagant embroidery in different designs. Scattered neatly atop the table was an array of items that seemed to carry some magical weight to them. He did not seem intimidated in the slightest and, upon noticing that the barrier surrounding him rippled when his visitor entered, he smiled. He did not rise to meet them nor adjust his position in the slightest. He followed them with his fierce eyes and greeted, in a silky voice, "Welcome."
Iapetus hadn't known what to expect when she'd gone out to wander the festival ground after dark. Her attention had been grabbed by a stall atop a hill in the park and she'd wandered on up. And once she got there, the stall looked way too interesting to pass by. She could see someone who clearly wasn't human inside, but that was okay. Thanks to the fight with the Hallow, she wasn't as phased as she might have been by the inclusion of non-standard features.
When the guy manning the stall said hello, Iapetus gave him a cheerful wave, wandering up and eyeing his wares with interest.
"Hey dude!" she said cheerfully, mindful to keep her hands clasped behind her back. Wouldn't do to be rude. "You got some hella interesting stuff here. Much better than some of the other vendors. So where do you come from?"
The question could have been seen as rude, though she hadn't meant it as such. She just felt like it was best to acknowledge that he wasn't from Earth and move on past that little hiccup.
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2025 5:48 am
"Here and there,” he answered simply, unmoved and unperturbed by the question. “I get around quite a bit.” He gestured to the tables. “As you can see.” He eyed the way in which she carried herself–hands behind her back as if she were in a museum. “You’re allowed to pick something up if it catches your eye. Really, my intention is to find my dear treasures a good home. I’ve been rather neglectful and they deserve attention. You’ll find that my items are of great quality. Rare, priceless. Much better than the mass produced leftovers you’ll find elsewhere. Are you in the market for anything in particular, or just looking? I’m very good at finding exactly what someone needs. But, of course, the customer is always right. So if there’s something speaking to you, let’s make a trade.” He smiled sweetly, like he’d done this a thousand times. He probably had. “I’ll caution that I don’t take currency, so you must have something interesting to trade. But don’t be intimidated. We’ll have a good time. What shall I call you?”
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2025 8:16 am
Well! Iapetus smiled to herself. This was a fancy boy and no mistake. Still, she kind of liked how he talked and how quick he’d been to reassure her that she could pick things up if she wanted a better look. Deciding rather quickly to take him up on that, she leaned over a tray of fascinating little things and picked it up, turning it in the light and realizing that she had no idea what it was even made from. But it didn’t look like the usual silver or gold tat she was used to seeing at festivals.
Setting it back down, she slowly wandered, just enjoying all the various things on display. After a moment, she laughed and grinned.
“I suppose I’m just looking for now since I don’t have any specific needs in mind. And probably just as well you don’t take the usual currency,” she added with a wink. “Since I don’t have much of that. I’m not used to vendor’s being down to trade though, so that makes you a refreshing change.”
What the hell did she even have that she could trade? This stuff all looked like it would be incredibly expensive. And if it was all as rare and valuable as... Well, whatever his name was had said... She was just a student after all. Still, she liked him and his promise of a good time.
With another grin, she moved a little closer and made no effort to hide her curiosity.
“I want you to know that I’m being very good and not making stupid jokes about what you can call me. ‘Cause I feel compelled in the sense of fairness to let you know that sort of phrasing opens you up to a lot of dumb puns, potential harassment and just outright idiocy. Unless you like that sort of thing, which case, no judgement here, go off, King and all that fun stuff. But I’m Iapetus. What’s your handle?”
Now that she was closer, she decided that he was definitely interesting. Not as hot as the demon banana, but not bad overall.
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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2025 8:08 pm
“Please, feel free to make as many jokes as you like. I find them endearing,” he assured, with a smug little expression that seemed like he was ready to hear her worst. Like he wanted to. But, he was a professional. This wasn’t all fun and games. “My name is Almadel,” he introduced sweetly, playfully. He held out his hand as if to take hers. “I am charmed to meet you, Iapetus. It is so funny–Iapetus, you said? I feel like I was just–oh, yes,” he paused, and while he held his hand out for her, he also stretched to one of the other tables to extract a wooden box. “Maybe you’d be interested in these. They are genuine artifacts. Do you recognize them?” he asked, flipping open the lid to show her five very different arrowheads, all of which seemed to have seen battle. And yet, all still seemed sharp enough to do lethal damage. Each had a unique, strange hum–like the whisper of magic that had long since been slumbering. “I found these while excavating, quite a while ago. I wanted to repair them, for my museum, but I didn’t really want to learn. And, I don’t really deal in weapons, even the small ones. They’re artifacts as they are but I’d break my policy if I did more to them. Even if you don’t want to trade, you should at least look at them. Maybe I’ll let you trade them for some jokes. If you’re funny enough,” he teased.
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 8:33 am
Grinning a little in response to his joking, Iapetus felt her eyes go wide and her jaw slack for a moment as the merchant introduced himself. Almadel?!? Holy s**t, she was talking to the dude who'd provided all those plans and weird gift bags and intel.
Holy s**t.
"If you're Almadel," she began slowly, "then I owe you big time thanks. Those plans of yours kept Earth safe. And the gift bags were super helpful in the fight against Big Snek Boi. Even if I did get yeeted out of my body for a bit."
She sounded sheepish as she said that last. Almost as if she might have been able to avoid it if she'd just been more careful or done anything differently. But those thoughts vanished quickly as Almadel spoke and very clearly implied that he'd been on her world. Possibly even quite recently. How wild was that?
"You have stuff from my world? For reals?" her voice was eager, interested. As she leaned over to examine the box and its contents, she found herself delighted and also puzzled. "How the hell did the box survive up there? Everything I saw was broken and crumbling. Well, except for a painted tile."
Her voice trailed off as she studied the arrowheads. She could hear the various soft hums and something inside of her insisted that she should know these. And the fact that she didn't recognize them was putting that part of her soul on edge.
"Man, I wish I could say I did," she answered honestly. "I feel like I should, but I got nothin'. These really came from my world?"
The question was soft, wondering. It was clear that Iapetus wanted them very much, even if she had no clue as to why they were important.
"Trust me, my jokes aren't worth anything close to these beauties," she said, quite seriously. "You'd really trade them to me? But you said you have a museum and these are in really damn good condition. Why let me have them back?"
There was nothing in tone or expression to imply anything but genuine curiosity and a sort of gratitude that he would consider such a thing. If it had been her in his place, she wasn't sure she could have been honest enough to even mention them, much less offer them back. Almadel was good people.
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 6:49 am
“Don’t you want them back? You seemed so happy to be reunited. It would be cruel of me to tease you, don’t you think? Besides, maybe you can make better use of them than I can. Don’t get me wrong, they’d be beautiful in an exhibit, but I really am trying to downsize. And it’s very important for me to make sure that– should I be required to part with my collection–they wind up in the right hands.” Almadel smiled again. “Besides! I am generous. And many things wind up in the wrong place even before I find it. So really, you’re just helping me get these home. Besides, I’m sure you’ll trade me something fun and exciting for them, yes?” Maybe he wasn’t trying very hard to downsize. “We can haggle while you tell me more of your experience with ‘Big Snek Boi’. Tell me of this yeeting, what happened between you and your body?”
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2025 8:06 am
Eyes firmly affixed on the arrowheads, Iapetus barked a laugh and then looked up to meet Almadel's gaze.
"My dude, I want them back so bad I could scream. But I can't for the life of me articulate why. They just feel important somehow? I don't know how else to explain it."
As she listened to the Merchant's reasoning, Iapetus smiled and nodded. It was all perfectly logical sounding to her. And she appreciated his candor, even if she was not entirely convinced. But now she had to think about something fun and exciting to trade. Did she even have anything tradeable?
Paling a little at the idea of openly and seriously talking abut the Hallow, Iapetus swallowed hard and closed her eyes for a moment.
"Sure, we can haggle, though I don't know what I have that you'd possibly be interested in. Still, no harm trying, right? But first, have you ever seen the Hallow with your own eyes? Imagine the biggest thing you can. That snake was even bigger . We're talking unimaginably massive. One of his scales could crush several people. It took forever before we could even see its head."
Pausing, Iapetus' head tilted as she considered her next words. Not for maximum storytelling effect, but more because she still wasn't entirely sure how to explain what had happened to her.
"I still can't figure out how it was generating the lightning that was hitting everything. Some of the lightning was black and let me tell you, its really goddamn creepy to see. Worse to be hit by. One of those bolts got me and it just zapped me right out of my body. I could see everyone around me and I could see me just kind of slumped there. I kept trying to yell and get someone to notice, but no one heard me. And it did something to my eyes that took a couple weeks to go away."
Another pause. This time, she reached into subspace and withdrew a handful of tiny, pearlescent scales, spreading them over the table.
"I literally shook these out of my hair once the Hallow got locked up and we got back home. Damn snake was dropping scales like crazy. I still can't believe something this tiny came off of anything that huge. They're really pretty though. Could you use them for anything? Actual pieces of a literal world ender?"
She figured Almadel accepting something like this were slim, but it couldn't hurt to try. And if that didn't work, well. There was that tile she'd found on her world and left up there.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2025 6:59 pm
Almadel leaned forward as she spoke, eyes sparkling as if she had him hooked on every word. He wore a broad, but tight lipped smile as he looked up at her, and then down at the scales she scattered across the table. He hummed, long and low and thoughtful, drawing out the moment far longer than he needed to. “These are far cry from the scales you describe,” he mused, pinching one small scale between his finger. He’d hesitated only briefly, and picked it up as if he thought it might shock him. It didn’t, and he let it settle in his palm as he rolled it over a few times before smoothing it with his thumb. “But I like them,” he said, so she didn’t have to wonder if he was interested. “It’s too bad you didn’t bring back any of the bigger ones, I might have liked to see those. But, no matter. Beggars cannot be choosers, and you have given me a lovely story. I will make this trade, with pleasure. No haggling needed. If you are satisfied, so am I. Sounds like you had quite a trip with the Herald. What did it do to your eyes, may I ask? Forgive my curiosity. There are so few who have had an encounter such as you. Naturally,” he shrugged, “I am curious.”
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2025 12:05 pm
”In fairness,” Iapetus began, half smiling as she was, well. Not quite scolded her about leaving behind the larger scales. “I’m not sure I was in a condition to think clearly by the time we all started running for the exits as it were. I’d only just managed to scramble back into the meat suit after all.”
She couldn’t be mad, hurt or even offended by Almadel’s disappointment in being told of monstrous scales, but being handed teeny tiny things. She would have been disappointed too in such circumstances. Strange how gingerly he handled them though. But then, he declared that he liked them and would be happy to trade anyway and Iapetus grinned.
“Really? That’s great! Thanks!”
Even through her glee, her eyes still cut up to linger on the cloth above them, as if she was looking through it to see the pinpoint of light where the Hallow’s prison lay. Smile faltering as she shuddered, Iapetus sighed a little.
“Nothing to forgive, anybody’d be curious. Assuming they took me seriously and weren’t calling the loony bin behind my back. And no reason to not tell. It’s not like it’s some big secret or anything.”
Her voice trailed off for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. She didn’t like remembering the sight of her catatonic body just… slumped to the ground in the midst of a fight. But Almadel was being good about her only having tiny scales to offer along with her information. For him, and those arrowheads, she’d make the effort.
“When I was kicked out of my body, I naturally took a few moments to look at myself, y’know? I mean, I was kind of in shock. But my eyes were gone. Not like… empty holes, y’understand. But the way they look right now? That wasn’t what I saw. Instead, it looked like my eyes had been replaced with a field of stars. It took weeks for that to fade away and my eyes to look normal again after we made it back to Earth. Took about the same amount of time for me to be able to see clearly again too.”
Now she sighed explosively, expression comically pensive.
“Almadel,” she said solemnly. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to hide that s**t from nosy parents without making them worry that illicit drugs are involved?”
The Space Cauldron i forgot to ask what sort of magic the arrowheads have lol
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2025 11:51 pm
Almadel had been listening intently, leaning forward in his seat as he eagerly clung to each word. And then, by the end, he laughed. “I’m sorry!” he apologized quickly, but his mirth made it hard to tell if he was actually feeling bad about it. “You poor humans! Oh, no. I can not imagine. But please trust me when I say you have my utmost respect. It can’t be easy having to sneak around so much. Earth certainly has its perks, but I’m glad I don’t have to deal with these drawbacks. Maybe the next time I stop by I’ll have found something to help you, my dear.” He leaned forward to pat her hand fondly, as if it meant to be reassuring. The smile hadn’t yet fallen from his face. “Thank you for telling me, I hope I’m not traumatizing you by asking. The whole thing with the Herald is so very interesting, I can’t help myself. You’ve been such a good sport, I appreciate it. If I had an out of body experience, I suppose the first thing I’d do is watch myself, too. I’m glad you’ve recovered. Take care of yourself, I don’t know what I’d do if I came back and found something awful had happened to you.”
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Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2025 11:57 am
Grinning in delight that her tale of woe had been so well received, Iapetus decided that she liked the Merchant's laugh. It wasn’t mean or fake and honestly? That laugh removed any remaining hints of feeling intimidated by him. Sure, he might’ve been laughing at her, just a little bit, but in his shoes, she’d have laughed at herself too. The sheer ridiculousness of the whole affair was terrifying, yes. But it was also ******** funny to a degree. At least, she could see the absolute absurdist humor in the whole affair.
“I guess I’m no more traumatized than anyone else who was up there. And I probably got off easier than some, so I can’t complain too much,” she answered, still smiling. “At least I didn’t come home with snake scars. Now that would have been impossible to hide or play off. Probably pretty funny to try and explain, though.”
She found herself feeling touched by Almadel’s merry concern and wrinkled up her nose comically. Honestly, at this point, he was making it impossible for her to hold him in any sort of awe.
Maybe that was the point.
“I promise I’ll be careful, but you know that you’d keep on keepin’ on. And that’s okay. Life should go on, you know? But I guess I wouldn’t object too much if you wanted to be just a little bit sad…” she let her voice trail off as her eyes fell on the box of arrowheads. Sure, he’d said she could have them, but she knew the rules for things like this thanks to her dad watching Pawn Stars back in the day. A deal was never sealed until they’d shaken hands on it. Therefore, she wouldn’t touch the box until the deal was done. That was just manners. She hesitated for a moment before sticking her hand out, practically beaming with cheerfulness.
“I’m glad I could entertain and elucidate you, Almadel,” she said. “I’m satisfied with our bargain if you are and I promise the next time you’re in town, I’ll have something more interesting for you.”
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 9:09 am
“Oh, you make this so easy,” he said, effortlessly sliding his hand into hers and giving a firm, enthusiastic shake. “If only all of my visitors could be as delightful as you.” He held her hand for only a few seconds longer than necessary before letting the touch fall away. “I’m quite satisfied with our bargain as well. So come back soon, let us have many more exchanges. I’ll look forward to whatever treasure you bring me next time. I’ll have to find something exquisite to match.”
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 2:46 pm
Satisfied that Rules had been followed, Iapetus grinned at Almadel and scooped up the box of arrowheads, cradling it carefully.
"I try to be accommodating when it's possible," she replied. "You honestly make it pretty easy. And I'll be sure to keep an eye out for anything you might find interesting!"
Turning to leave the tent, she glanced back over her shoulder and winked cheerfully.
"I'll do my best for Soon. But in case I miss that window, I'll be sure to hunt you up the next time you're in town. Have a good night and thank you again!"
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